Lady Rams make Point, defeat Skyhawks

BLUEFIELD, Va. — Life on the basketball court without an injured Kia Gilliard has been difficult for the Lady Rams.

Yet, Bluefield was able to make its Point without their normal starting point guard on Saturday afternoon, using an 18-10 run over the final 9:58 to defeat the Skyhawks 69-61 at the Dome Gymnasium.

Bluefield improved to 13-8, and 7-4 and in a three-way tie for third place in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Point University (7-13, 1-10), located in East Point, Ga., made its first trip to the area in the squad’s first season in the league.

“I think we are all coming together, it is kind of hard without our point guard, Kia, right now,” Bluefield junior Toni Cataldi said. “It is kind of hard to adjust, but Jasmine (Washington) and Celinda (Arrington) have really stepped it up for us and everybody is just playing for her until we can get her back.”

“Hopefully it will be just one more game. We would like her back now.”

Plenty of players stepped up for the Lady Rams on this day, including Takieya Rouse and Teqa McNeal, a duo that combined for 42 points to help Bluefield pull away from a 51-51 tie with 10:02 left in the game.

“This game was a battle of heart, when they would make a run we realized that the game is close,” said Gilliard, who served the role of very interested spectator and coach, nursing her sprained left ankle suffered in a loss at Virginia Intermont on Jan. 18. “It was a matter of will, and I think we wanted it more down the stretch.”

Bluefield, which was led by McNeal with 23 points and Rouse with 19, watched an eight-point lead shrink to one at 23-22 on a basket by Devon Tancini with 5:21 to go in the opening half.

The Lady Rams answered with a 16-3 run to the break, with Bluefield using its pressure to force turnovers. McNeal collected two steals, dished out an assist and scored seven points during that key point in the game.

Cataldi also contributed with nine first half points, all on 3s, and finish with 12 points on 4-of-13 from 3-point range. Being a long range shooter is a new role for the junior, who has been told to shoot from deep by first-year head coach M.J. Baker.

“I wasn’t a 3-point shooter until this year,” said Cataldi, who also had five rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. “She made me a 3-point shooter, she just keeps saying believe in it and shoot it.”

Bluefield was able to increase its lead to 43-27 on two free throws by McNeal and a basket by Rouse, but that’s when the Skyhawks fought back, with Raven Bell scoring eight points and Tancini adding seven during an 18-0 run to take a 45-43 advantage on a Bell 3 with 12:40 on the clock.

Bluefield took the lead right back on a 3 by Cataldi, and two more lead changes followed, with Tancini connecting with 10:02 left to knot the score at 51.

“The second half we kind of fell apart when it came to defense, but we kind of kept it together,” Cataldi said. “Actually everybody, even on the bench, tried to work as a team and (Rouse) hit some big shots to keep us in the game for a while.

“Teqa went in there and grabbed a lot of rebounds, being a small guard, kind of kept us alive down there and we were able to slow down the clock.”

It was all Bluefield from that point. Washington and McNeal each connected on baskets, and Rouse made two 3s and another that looked like 3 to Gilliard, which helped the Rams go on a 12-2 spurt to build the margin back to 10.

Rouse finished with three 3s for the Lady Rams, which made eight from long range. She also had three assists, while the 5-foot-7 McNeal added seven boards and three steals.

“(Tayieka) hit like three 3s and they called one of her 3s a two,” said Gilliard, who missed her fourth game with the injury. “She just knew that with the game clock winding down that the ball should be in her hands.”

Point clawed to within six with 54.8 seconds to go, but a basket and two free throws from McNeal and a shot by Rouse helped the Rams pull away for their second win in the last five games.

Bell led Point with 16 points, while Tancini added nine and Kendrell Ringer and Chauntel Herrod had eight each. The Skyhawks had just two assists in the game.

It was an especially pleasing win for the Lady Rams, which lost one week ago at Columbia, which was tied for last place in the AAC at the time.

“It was real tough, especially the reaction afterwards,” Cataldi said. “It was really tough, we all came out not ready, I couldn’t knock down shots, a lot of us came in bored, it was just a team thing.

“One person can affect a team and we didn’t all five go out there ready to play. It was tough, but we are ready when they come to us.”

Bluefield, which had recently been in first place, now trails Tennessee Wesleyan by two games, but the goal remains the same for the Rams.

“We would rather be higher (than third), we are never going to settle for where we are,” Gilliard said. “The goal is to win the conference outright, if all else fails the goal is ultimately to win the conference tournament.”

Bluefield, which had gone 8-2 before losing three of five, will host Milligan on Tuesday with hopes of an AAC championship still within sight.

“I think we can do it, we have to win from here on out,” Cataldi said. “We have got a couple of losses where it was completely our fault, our heads fell apart, but I think it is possible regardless.

“I think we are going to come back and take the conference and the conference tournament.”

Gilliard hates having to watch and not play, but hopes to be back healthy when it matters most.

“We want to be going for that goal,” Gilliard said. “It is really hard since it is my senior year. I am ready to be back, but I don’t want to force the issue. I am just hoping by conference tournament time I am ready.”

So do the rest of the Lady Rams.

— Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

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